Department of State conspiracy against St. Augustine?

Mysterious bill that would have ended city's control over 36 state historic properties died in a committee

PETER GUINTASenior Writer

Published Sunday, May 19, 2002

A bill that would have ended St. Augustine's control over 36 state historic properties in the city died in a legislative committee in March.

However, even though the measure failed, questions about it remain, such as: Why was it introduced? Why didn't local legislators know about it? And why do people think it has a connection to the downtown parking garage controversy?

Senate Bill 2404, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Durell Peadon of Crestview, was designed to streamline state regulations on trademarks, mergers, corporate filings and annual reports.

Peadon's legislative assistant, Roger Robinson, said the Department of State, which is under Secretary of State Katherine Harris, asked the senator to file the bill.

"It was just supposed to clean up some corporate language," Robinson said.

But the bill also contained an amendment by state Sen. Debby P. Sanderson of Fort Lauderdale. One change, entitled "Historic Properties," repealed Florida statute 267.171, which requires the Department of State to sign a lease with St. Augustine to manage state historic properties here.

Sanderson was unavailable for comment about why she included that provision in her amendment.

Her staff, however, said she was asked to do so by the Department of State.

St. Augustine's $1 a year intergovernmental agreement to manage state properties expires Aug. 7.

The city has operated and maintained those properties since 1997 under the Historic Preservation and Heritage Tourism department, which has an annual budget of about $1 million and collects money from museum admissions, museum store sales, rentals and grants and gifts.

S.B. 2404 passed the Senate's Commerce and Economic Opportunities Committee with a 9-1 vote on March 22. Voting for the bill in committee was state Sen. Betty Holzendorf of Jacksonville, whose District 2 includes the west half of St. Johns County.

Holzendorf could not be reached for comment about why she supported the bill. After it left her committee, the bill died in the Judiciary Committee without being heard.

Nor was Secretary Harris available, but David Host, her communications director, said this statute change was a Department of State staff proposal, though he didn't know who suggested it.

"It was designed to negotiate the best agreement possible for Florida's taxpayers," Host said. "It's not that we don't want the city of St. Augustine to have these properties, we just don't want to be forced to accept the city's terms. We want the freedom to negotiate and evaluate their offer and to spend historical resource money fairly and efficiently."

But Host could not say why the provision was proposed at this time, why it was put into a bill without notifying legislators who represent St. Augustine, or why it was tacked onto a bill that had nothing to do with historic preservation.

"I'm not familiar with the circumstances or the mechanics of how it was proposed," Host said.

Calls to the state's Division of Historic Preservation were not returned.

A letter May 1 from Mayor Mark Alexander to Secretary Harris said he was "surprised and disappointed" to learn of the state's efforts to repeal 267.171.

"We firmly believe we have performed well as stewards of the state properties and look forward to continuing their management," Alexander wrote.

He also asked for a face-to-face meeting with Harris, but received no response.

The city wants at least another five-year extension of the lease as soon as possible. It must budget for two dozen city employees who work at those properties.

Assistant City Manager Jack Cubbedge said he realizes that negotiations between governments can be lengthy.

"But we started this process 18 months ago," Cubbedge said. "We hope they can move fairly rapidly getting us a draft, so we can get it to our commission. It's getting close."

St. Augustine's state Rep. Doug Wiles said he was "disappointed, and a little angry" S.B. 2404 was filed without telling local lawmakers.

"But the city has not asked me for any help on this issue, nor has the secretary's office called me on it," Wiles said.

City and Department of State officials, including Secretary Harris, met in Tallahassee months ago to discuss the lease issue. Nothing was resolved, but some who attended called the meeting "contentious" and others "a frank expression of views," but nearly all say the proposed 351-car parking garage behind the Lightner Museum was mentioned.

The juxtaposition of the two issues is causing some city residents to believe Harris has her own vision for state historic properties here, or is trying to "punish" St. Augustine for refusing to undergo state architectural review of the garage. They say the amendment was tucked into an unrelated bill so no one would notice its passage.

Host said none of that is true.

"Those are non-issues. No companion amendment was filed in the House," he said. "This is the standard way legislation is done. We obviously wish to negotiate an agreement with St. Augustine, but we want the authority to reject any offer. It's all about equal bargaining power and that's all."

St. Augustine City Manager Bill Harriss said that how the amendment got attached to the bill is an interesting question.

"We also tried to find out who put (the amendment) there, but we couldn't," Harriss said. "It does have an extreme odor about it. We're not going into accusations or innuendos. But there's something going on. We hope the truth comes out."

As chair of the city's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, Carla Wright said she believes the garage and lease issues are connected.

"The buck stops at Secretary Harris' office," Wright said. "She's going to leave a big mess for the governor to handle. She's too busy running for Congress to take care of her own office."

Harris leaves office after the November election, when her cabinet position becomes an appointed one. She's running for a congressional seat in Sarasota, her home county.

State Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville said he was surprised to see the state take a stand on this issue.

"We in the St. Augustine delegation have always worked well together and want to be kept in the loop," King said. "This was unusual. It was firing a shot, in effect saying that they don't want the parking garage."

Architect Howard Davis, a vocal opponent of the garage project, said he didn't know anything about the bill and did not lobby state officials to take away the state properties.

"But I would not blame the state for taking management of these properties away from the city, after all the financial support and grant money and trust the state has given the city over the years," Davis said.

Citizens for the Preservation of St. Augustine, a neighborhood organization, is still fighting "as hard as it can" to stop the garage, he said.

"The city's having a hard time understanding that what they're doing is wrong," Davis said.

Losing the state properties could be a setback to the city's restoration program and to the main tourist area of St. Augustine, Harriss said.

"It would bring another period of uncertainty that was common in state management of the program in the preceding 10 years before we took it over," he said.

William R. Adams, director of St. Augustine's historic preservation, said the value of the state properties is in the tens of millions.

When he was told the state wanted to negotiate the leases, he asked, "Negotiate for what? This program was costing the taxpayers of Florida upwards of $750,000 a year when it was abandoned by the Department of State and the Legislature."